As 2022 preseason camp comes to a close for the Northern Illinois University football team this weekend, the Huskies held the penultimate practice of camp Saturday in the Chessick Practice Center. The Huskies will hold the final practice of camp Sunday at Huskie Stadium or the Chessick Practice Center in the annual “mock game” where they go through the pregame and halftime routine, from warm-ups to the team entrance.
Saturday’s practice followed a familiar script with the offense and defense facing off in scrimmage periods for much of the workout, including in goal line and red zone situations. Later in the workout, the offense and defense worked against the compete teams before coming together again in the final periods with the developmental players on offense and defense facing off.
After 20 days of camp and 17 practices, NIU head coach Thomas Hammock said he and the coaching staff have learned a lot about the 2022 Huskies and feel confident with what they have.
“I told the coaching staff if you don’t have an idea about who needs to play on September 1 by now, we didn’t do a good enough job,” Hammock said. “I think we understand what our football team is. We understand our strengths and weaknesses, and I think our players are in a good spot. We’re healthy. We feel good about where we are. I look forward to us continuing to get better and sharpening our edges to get ready for the season.”
With 22 returning starters on offense, defense and special teams, many of the players mentioned in the NIUHuskies.com position previews throughout the preseason are familiar to Huskie fans, but Hammock said there have been some surprises and new names to know.
“Defensively, I think you have to look at a guy like Muhammad Jammeh,” he said. “I think he’s established himself and played at a high level the whole time. Offensively, Shemar Thornton has been phenomenal, Kacper [Rutkiewicz] has been phenomenal. Those guys have really added some elements to our offense. [Tight end] George Gumbs has been great as well. We have a lot of guys that are going to carve out a niche for themselves to contribute.”
Collectively, Hammock mentioned the defensive line as an area where players have stepped up and are battling for snaps.
“Upfront defensively, we have some second-tier guys that are playing at a high level, especially at the defensive end position,” he said. “Ivan Davis, who hasn’t played a whole lot has had a tremendous camp. Pierce Oppong has been good. The young freshmen Roy Williams has been phenomenal. Those are some guys that give us a chance to add depth to our team and can go out there and compete.”
With classes starting Monday, the Huskies also took care of an important piece of business Friday as 2022 captains were named after a team vote. Quarterback Rocky Lombardi, defensive tackle James Ester and linebacker Nick Rattin were named captains for the second straight year. They were joined by veteran linebacker Kyle Pugh, offensive tackle Nolan Potter and safety Jashon Prophete, who was selected for his work on special teams.
“We wanted to have a special teams captain,” Hammock said. “That’s an important part of our game, that’s a third of the game and we wanted those guys to be [represented]. Jashon Prophete was a guy that was overwhelmingly looked at as a leader on special teams.
“It was an interesting process, and it was strictly player driven. We let the team vote and I’m happy with the guys that were chosen. My initial thought was, we had three captains returning from last year and they were still captains, but as I thought about it, this is a different team, so we opened it up completely. The three returning captains ended up being selected again, so I’m glad that worked out.”
By nature of the vote and designation, the captains are selected for their leadership qualities, but Hammock said leadership is not limited to those six individuals, as proven by the number of people who received votes from their teammates.
“What I talked to the team about is okay, we have captains, but even if you’re not a captain, you still can become a leader,” Hammock said. “I think we have great leadership on this team and that was shown in the amount of people who got votes. There were a couple other guys on offense that were close, Cole Tucker had a lot of votes, Marques Cox had a lot of votes. On defense, [Izayah Green-May] has been a great leader coming in as a transfer, but everyone doesn’t get to know him like the defense does. Those are some guys we’re going to look to for leadership [in addition to the captains].”
To see a preview of every position, as well as videos from the Chicago and DeKalb media days, go to the 2022 Camp Central page. The Huskies take on Eastern Illinois on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Huskie Stadium with kickoff at 7 p.m. (CT).
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